Ralph Richardson

Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902– 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He worked in films throughout most of his career, and played more than sixty cinema roles. From an artistic but not theatrical background, Richardson had no thought of a stage career until a production of Hamlet in Brighton inspired him to become an actor. He learned his craft in the 1920s with a touring company and later the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In 1931 he joined the Old Vic, playing mostly Shakespearean roles. He led the company the following season, succeeding Gielgud, who had taught him much about stage technique. After he left the company, a series of leading roles took him to stardom in the West End and on Broadway.

In the 1940s, together with Olivier and John Burrell, Richardson was the co-director of the Old Vic company. There, his most celebrated roles included Peer Gynt and Falstaff. He and Olivier led the company to Europe and Broadway in 1945 and 1946, before their success provoked resentment among the governing board of the Old Vic, leading to their dismissal from the company in 1947. In the 1950s, in the West End and occasionally on tour, Richardson played in modern and classic works including The Heiress, Home at Seven, and Three Sisters. He continued on stage and in films until shortly before his sudden death at the age of eighty. He was celebrated in later years for his work with Peter Hall's National Theatre and his frequent stage partnership with Gielgud. He was not known for his portrayal of the great tragic roles in the classics, preferring character parts in old and new plays.

Ralph Richardson (chancellor)

Richardson was educated at Moncton High School, the New Brunswick Bible Institute, and the United Baptist Bible Training School (the institution that he would later lead under a different name), all in Moncton. He then went to Gordon College in Massachusetts, earning a B.A. in Biblical Studies and History in 1966 and continuing there for a master of divinity in 1969. He returned to Moncton as pastor of the Lewisville United Baptist Church, and then in 1971 joined the faculty of Atlantic Baptist College, as the former United Baptist Bible Training School was then called. After several administrative positions, he became president of the college in 1986, and continued to serve as president until 2000. Under his presidency, the college moved to a new campus and renamed itself again, to Atlantic Baptist University, in 1996. In 2000, after stepping down as president, he became the first chancellor of the university. In 2009, he retired as chancellor in favor of Jack Stultz, and in the same year was given the university's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Richardson was appointed to the Legislative Council on 31 December 1853. He was a Member of the Executive Council in the first Fox Ministry from 24 May to 2 June 1856. He resigned from the Legislative Council on 13 December 1856. The Richardsons returned to England in 1858. According to Henry Sewell's diary, "Mrs Richarson like[d] New Zealand, but the want of Servants [was] the one intolerable grievance." They bought an estate in Devon where they lived until the 1880s. His wife died in 1880, and he later moved to London. After his son Ralph died in Nelson on 22 December 1889, he took in his daughter-in-law and her two small girls. Richardson died in 1897 or 1898.

Famous quotes by Ralph Richardson:

"We can't promote clam farming if they can't expand -- if there is no place for it to go."

"But I would present it as a citizens petition, not ours,"

"I think we can use (the study) to make sure we're in balance,"

"You've got to perform in a role hundreds of times. In keeping it fresh one can become a large, madly humming, demented refrigerator."

"Acting is the ability to dream on cue."

"In music, the punctuation is absolutely strict, the bars and rests are absolutely defined. But our punctuation cannot be quite strict, because we have to relate it to the audience. In other words we are continually changing the score."

"The art of acting consists in keeping people from coughing ."

"The most precious things in speech are pauses"

"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people from coughing."

Ralph Richardson

Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902– 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He worked in films throughout most of his career, and played more than sixty cinema roles. From an artistic but not theatrical background, Richardson had no thought of a stage career until a production of Hamlet in Brighton inspired him to become an actor. He learned his craft in the 1920s with a touring company and later the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In 1931 he joined the Old Vic, playing mostly Shakespearean roles. He led the company the following season, succeeding Gielgud, who had taught him much about stage technique. After he left the company, a series of leading roles took him to stardom in the West End and on Broadway.

In the 1940s, together with Olivier and John Burrell, Richardson was the co-director of the Old Vic company. There, his most celebrated roles included Peer Gynt and Falstaff. He and Olivier led the company to Europe and Broadway in 1945 and 1946, before their success provoked resentment among the governing board of the Old Vic, leading to their dismissal from the company in 1947. In the 1950s, in the West End and occasionally on tour, Richardson played in modern and classic works including The Heiress, Home at Seven, and Three Sisters. He continued on stage and in films until shortly before his sudden death at the age of eighty. He was celebrated in later years for his work with Peter Hall's National Theatre and his frequent stage partnership with Gielgud. He was not known for his portrayal of the great tragic roles in the classics, preferring character parts in old and new plays.

Latest News for: ralph richardson

Rachel A. HallSmitty, was born on Aug. 10, 1934 in Nashville, TN. She passed away Dec. 13, 2018, surrounded by her family. She loved them very much. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, and daughter. She gave her whole heart to each of these roles ...Funeral services will be Sunday, Dec ... RalphRichardson will officiate ... .......

Now I should say I don't know that the hoary Second World War movie classic isn't being shown this year ... That, having beat himself up for doing another lowbrow bullet-fest for the money, he would declare a war of his own, or an Olympics of Teutonic pronunciation officially open, and to Laurence Olivier and RalphRichardson would snap ... READ MORE ... ....